Bono named on Glamour magazine’s Women of the Year list

US women’s magazine Glamour has announced that the U2 frontman and humanitarian will be the first man in its 36-year history to be honored alongside its annual Women of the Year list.

The magazine said on its website that for years it has eschewed including men in the honors because “the tribe we’re into celebrating is female.”

However, “when a major male rock star who could do anything at all with his life decides to focus on the rights of women and girls worldwide – well, all that’s worth celebrating. We’re proud to name that rock star, Bono, our first Man of the Year,” it said.

Bono, 56, in 2015 created the Poverty Is Sexist campaign that is aimed at helping the world’s poorest women through better access to education, health services and business opportunities.

The campaign is part of the ONE organization he helped found in 2004 to fight poverty and disease in Africa.

Bono thanked Glamour for the award, saying in a statement that the “battle for gender equality can’t be won unless men lead it along with women. We’re largely responsible for the problem, so we have to be involved in the solutions.”

“We can do much more than we think we can. Leaders are accountable to all of us. If they don’t support women and girls, vote them out of office,” he added.